Hyperspectral mapping and imaging requires storage of large amounts of data. For a single map of a relatively small area this can be gigabytes of data. This data can be stored on high volume storage media such as magnetic tape or optical storage device; however, this can require the use of large numbers of tapes, CD's, DVD's. Hyperspectral imaging jobs may require careful selection of different data sets for a given job or assessment. For a given job the required data may be stored on a number of different storage media. Selection and retrieval of storage media can be cumbersome and time consuming and can require a specialist familiar with the storage system. Commercially available data archiving at best consists of using robotic systems to archive data and the meager identification of that data provided by the software used to drive the robotics hardware. A fairly comprehensive knowledge of that software is required and it is often necessary to be a system administrator in order to actually use it. Also the location on a given storage media of specific data is often poorly documented or mapped. The problem is the need to archive many gigabytes of data in well mapped locations that can be easily and quickly retrieved and accessed by general users and not require manual processing of a request. It is also important to be able to access and retrieve well defined subsets of archived data. The customized data needs to be available on short notice and be available directly to the end user without any handling by a system administrator or specialist. The user interface must also be easily useable by the end user with minimal training.
The present invention provides a method for automated archiving and restoration of data using a relational database that is simple and straightforward for use by the general user and overcomes the problems discussed above.